244 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 

 " tercel " is thought to have been the short- 

 winged male goshawk as opposed to the " tercel 

 (or tassel) gentle/' the male of the larger-winged 

 peregrine : 



" O, for a falconer's voice 

 To lure this tassel-gentle back again." 



(' 'Romeo and Juliet," II. ii. 158.) 



The lure consisted of a leather thong appended 

 to a piece of metal or wood to which were at- 

 tached a couple of birds' wings and a scrap of 

 raw meat. This was either whirled round his 

 head by the falconer or thrown some distance ; 

 at the same time the falconer shouted to attract 

 the bird. Each falconer had his own call, which 

 the hawks were taught to recognise. In the case 

 of hawks that flew very high, a live pigeon re- 

 strained by a string was sometimes used as a 

 lure. 



The game or " quarry " (cf. " This quarry 

 cries on havoc/' " Hamlet/' V. 2) differed with 

 different hawks. The gerfalcon and peregrine 

 were flown at water-fowl, pigeons, rooks, and 

 magpies ; the goshawk at partridges and hares ; 

 small forms, such as the merlin and hobby hawk, 

 at larks and blackbirds. 



In the passage : 



